College Admissions Essay: Overcoming Obstacles

Riding a unicycle is probably pretty interesting. I originally wanted my parents to get me a pogo stick for christmas because they never got me one when i was little, but they couldn’t find an adult sized one in their budget. So they figured something else that is equally strange would suffice, and it really seemed to fit my personality.The reason I started my essay with a reference to my unicycle is because it shows some good aspects of my character. Since riding a unicycle took multiple months for me to master, it shows that I am persistent, even if I fall a few times. Though riding a unicycle is interesting and fun, it’s not my main priority. I’m extremely passionate for film and theatre, and there are a few things about me that really do a fantastic job at getting me ready for a career in acting.

Learning to deal with and overcoming adversity is what made me who I am. Every challenge and every difficulty I’ve successfully confronted in my life served as a way to strengthen my will, confidence and ability to conquer future obstacles. A famous quote I liked came from Herodotus, the Greek philosopher, who said, "Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have lain dormant in its absence.” When I responded positively and constructively to my biggest challenges, the qualities of strength, courage, character and perseverance emerged from deep within, because I am human, it was very easy to get caught up in the self-pity, unfairness of life, or the “why me?” trap. When I did think like that, I learned that I failed to recognize the opportunities for wisdom and growth that accompanied adversity. However, as soon as I allowed myself to think more clearly, I was able to let go of self-defeating and unproductive thoughts and get down to the business of dealing with what was happening before me and what can happen for me in my future. My failures and setbacks have nothing to do with me being a menace to society instead I had to realize it’s something every human being goes through. It’s a part of life and has everything to do with being human. Circumstances to me now mean nothing. Limitations don’t hold me back.

They say that there is nothing to fear but fear itself, yet I tend to disagree. Our world is packed full of things to be afraid of. As a child, we are afraid of the dark or monsters hiding underneath our beds; but, as we grow with wisdom and age, those fears become bigger and more worldly. We fear things like terrorism or illness. The fear that consumes me most is that my best might never be enough.

Former baseball player Tommy Lasorda once said, “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” The journey of our life is full of winding paths and concrete obstacles whose sole goal is to slow us down, and to attempt to block us from reaching our ultimate goal in life, whatever that may be. These barriers are there for several different reasons, whether it be mental or physical. Sometimes these obstacles are motivated by fear, other times they exist simply because we have to make a decision, and that decision can be life changing. But through our determination, and through our perseverance, we can achieve what these barriers told us was impossible, and can pursue the path in our life that leads us to our ultimate self. Throughout my life, I have had thousands of barriers stand in my path. And the only way I was able to defeat them was through conquering my fears, and breaking my limits in order to achieve excellence.

I am a southern bred leader, pursuer, and helper whos mission is to spread peace, love, unity, and respect among many to create a world of cheerfulness and brotherhood. I am Austin William Carricoand this is my story. All my life I have lived in the small town of Crestview and grew up among the wilderness along with its inhabitants. As the town grew exponentially into a vast city, my heart, my mind, and my soul grew with it, learning the ways to help others and slowly turning from a boy to the young man I am today. I now attend Collegiate High School continuing my journey at the ripe age of fifteen, still promoting peace as a mission for others even when I left my former school, Niceville High.

Four years ago, as a freshman in highschool, attending a liberal arts school was not important to me or my aspirations. I just knew I wanted to go to a “good” college. I did not learn what liberal arts really was until I was a senior in high school, and even then, it did not play as much of role in my college decision process as it should have. To me, it just meant do I want to learn about more subjects, or just my area of study. I had this form or thinking just one year ago, but now, as a member of a liberal arts institution, I am finding a new appreciation for the importance of a liberal arts education in my life because of the society that we live in today.

I was born on September the 7th of 1994 in the San Francisco Bay area, not very far from Silicon Valley. The year I was born President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade agreement with Mexico and Canada which helped to stimulate economic growth about twenty years ago. Living in California made my Dad the open-minded liberal that he is today, and because of his love for discussing politics I was raised listening to him have friendly debates with my very republican grandpa over every economic issue from climate change to healthcare. For about a year and a half after I was born my parents, older brother Daniel, golden retriever sandy, and I all lived in a classic colonial style home just south of Santa Clara Valley. My father was the breadwinner in our family working as an engineer for Portola Packaging. A job he was offered not long after graduation from a small private engineering school in upstate New York called Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. My mother also worked full time but as a loan underwriter. After being offered a great relocation package by Portola to the east coast my parents quickly decided to pack up our house and move to Pittsburg Pennsylvania. In addition to being closer to our extended families they also believed that raising a family in Pennsylvania was far

Born in a country where education is poor, life is hard, and opportunities are very rare, I was fortunate to come with my family to the U.S in search for a better future. I was only eight years of age when my family had to go through much hardship in order to bring my brother and I to this country. My good fortune was accompanied by many challenges such as learning English, getting to know a wide variety of diverse people and adapting to my new environment. It was a hard beginning for me, making it difficult to find the road I was looking for. The people that really support me in every struggle I have experienced ever since I was born are my parents who were and continue to be my biggest influence. I am blessed to have such a supportive and

This forced me analyze my life thus far, to recognize my fears and what I hold dear. It’s only been sixteen (one month till seventeen) years in this carcass, but I already feel like an entire life has flown by. It was like a prerequisite of actually watching my life flash before my eyes. This project was nice to sit back and look at what a social mess I am (one of my most favorite pastimes). But also, only being sixteen, I don’t hold what many would believe to be true values, dreams, fears, and identity. Nevertheless, this is what I have so far.

Who am I personally, after 50 years of being me, I am still a work in progress. I grew up in a tiny ski resort town, on the Appalachian Mountains, in New Jersey. My father grew up in New Jersey, but my mother is from Havana Cuba. My father never graduated from High School, but my mother did. They did not believe in higher education, especial for girls. They wanted us to get married and start a family, I always knew that was not for me. So I followed my dreams and traveled the world. Meeting exciting, educated people all along the way, my travels showed me all the things that I had been missing out on living in a tiny town. By traveling, I learned how to live independently, be frugal, and enjoy life, that is what made me a strong woman. My weakness is, that I wear my heart on my sleeve, I am temperamental, and no confidant.

“Some succeed because they are destined to, most succeed because they are determined to”. During the winter of eighth grade, I lived by these words of encouragement as I prepared for my upcoming piano competition. My goal was to place in the top three. By dedicating my time and energy, with commitment, determination, and persistence, I not only reached my goal, but also learned a lesson about how to reach my goals that would last me a lifetime.

Just when everything was finally going great as far as my college goes I hit the biggest rough patch. Starting my freshman year of college was the biggest accomplishment thus far in my life at the time. I had set such high goals for myself and then failed at them drastically, unintentionally at that. As being the first generation college student in my family, coming to college was a must for me. Growing up living in a paycheck-to-paycheck household was not the worst but I knew somewhere out there were better opportunities that I need to take advantage of once my time came. I wanted more for myself but until this screw up. I came to the real conclusion of what that better was. Better was getting myself together so I could be one-step closer the gold behind the psychology degree I will receive in May 2020.

Every kids goal is graduate from high school, go off to college, and live the luxurious life they have always dreamed of. They don't realize all of the hard work they need to put forth, and obstacles to overcome in order to fulfill those dreams. Over the last 4 years, I have set myself certain goals so I can be the first of my family to earn a high school diploma, and move on to pursue a higher education. Some of those goals included; maintaining above a 4.0 cumulative GPA, ranking #1 in my class, and becoming extremely over involved in extracurricular activities. I have accomplished all of these, setting myself well above where I expected to be. Now that I am a senior, ready to start making my own dreams reality, I have made a whole new set of goal to work for. But with these goals comes patience, and effort. Since freshman year, I have worked for my grades, and have had the ambition, and strive, to become who I am today. This wasn’t easy, nor was it a quick process. So for this, the most important lesson i’ve learned up to this point in my life is that success is not handed to you, and that it takes hard work, as well as patience, to really become all that you would like to be.

Some experts say success is the result of an accumulated advantage, if this were true then my life has been an accumulated disadvantage, but I have triumph against all odds. I was born in adverse circumstances. I was compel to work from a young age. When I began to understand my surroundings I knew a college education was inconceivable.

In 210 days at 3:00 in the afternoon, I’ll be sitting up on stage with all my classmates in the new gym wearing a brand-new dress covered by a red paper-thin gown comparable to a hospital gown with a cap bobby pinned into my head probably tearing up to the song “100 Years to Live” in the senior video. How did 13 years fell like an eternity but show up in the blink of an eye? I always knew that someday I would finally be a senior and graduate, but sitting here in my college composition class, senior year, it still doesn’t feel like I’m about to clean up my locker and head out for the very last time.